Bodyshops and perfection

[TW]Fox;17096347 said:
Was speaking with the guy who is detailing the E60 earlier and he was saying how he has had to use a wool head, I had no idea what this meant and said 'ok'.

Now I am scared :eek:
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How old is the car? A lot of the newer BMW's are coming with this new ceramic lacquer meaning polishing original panels can be interesting. Freshly painted ones aren't much of an issue. Mercedes are doing a similar thing.
 
It is a 2007 car. He was complaining about how there was 'something' on the paintwork he'd never seen before.... tell me more?
 
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[TW]Fox;17096381 said:
It is a 2007 car. He was complaining about how there was 'something' on the paintwork he'd never seen before.... tell me more?
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It's something the German manufacturers seem to be implementing in order to combat marks left in the paint by car washes. Over there you are not allowed to wash your car on your driveway and it has to go through a proper car wash so you can imagine the mess that makes after a few years. The Ceramic lacquer is a harder coating thus meaning more protective against marks and some supposedly contains reflow technology meaning that if the lacquer gets scratched it has the capability to mask the scratches by sinking into the mark.

It does however mean that the guys in the bodyshops often struggle to get the stuff off when repairing vehicles and often have a particular harsher than normal abrasive to do the job and obviously makes polishing hard work as well.

I hope that makes sense. :D
 
I took a Focus that I used to have to an Statsone Jaguar bodyshop which also did Aston Martins and even they didn't do a grand job. I'd love to get the bonnet of my car resprayed but I fear it would look worse with orange peel and a different shade to the wings.
 
Having a manufacturers approval just means the operatives have been trained in a recommended process to repair that particular manufacturers models. Although you can generally expect a better standard of work from those who deal with the prestige brands, it does not guarantee a perfect job.
 
I go to BMW for my work.

They make a hash of it just as much as everyone else but they always smile when I go back and say 'lets try it again' so I figure its the best of a bad bunch. I tried a reputable independant last time, the job was just as crap but when I went back he didnt seem to see my point.
 
[TW]Fox;17096652 said:
I go to BMW for my work.

They make a hash of it just as much as everyone else but they always smile when I go back and say 'lets try it again' so I figure its the best of a bad bunch. I tried a reputable independant last time, the job was just as crap but when I went back he didnt seem to see my point.
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have you got an example of the price difference you experienced between BMW and an indy, for the same job?
 
BMW quoted £300 for the front bumper, the indy quoted £250 and.. it's mostly fine. BMW bill me £33ish an hour for bodycentre work.
 
Totally, I didnt do it for price I did it to see if somebody out there could just get everything right first time.

The answer was no.
 
Minxy said:
Having a manufacturers approval just means the operatives have been trained in a recommended process to repair that particular manufacturers models. Although you can generally expect a better standard of work from those who deal with the prestige brands, it does not guarantee a perfect job.
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I agree, but then their nature of customer tends to see them get it right more times that not because they get tired of having their tuds nailed to the reception desk when it goes wrong. I wouldn't let most body shops look at my car let alone touch it, but then I also never seek the 'best price you can mate' I seek the best job.
 
Housey said:
but then I also never seek the 'best price you can mate' I seek the best job.
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Me neither but this is harder than you might imagine. I specifically avoided shopping on price the last time, but everyone insists the work they do is top quality. I made it completely clear I was an irritatingly annoying perfectionist as well.
 
DiamondMark said:
Dont make 1 jot of difference.

If you are not coming from the prestige dealers they just revert to the usual that will do attitude.

They dont care if they lose your custom.
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This, I think is pretty true. If you go to a bodyshop and are not happy with the work, they arent overly bothered if you never have any other work done. The same bodyshop will listen and sort any problems out when it's work via a main dealer as they don't want to loose their business.
 
[TW]Fox;17096799 said:
Me neither but this is harder than you might imagine. I specifically avoided shopping on price the last time, but everyone insists the work they do is top quality. I made it completely clear I was an irritatingly annoying perfectionist as well.
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The Motor Trade.....you know where I'm going....

Did you get to review their cars at various stages of repair?
Did you get a guided tour from the owner of their entire process?
Did you get to meet with and discuss the process with the senior paint technician?
Did you get to speak to their chief quality inspector (that's ALL he did) about their match validation process?
Did you get your car returned detailed, I don't mean polished, I mean detailed?
Did you get a call to review before final lacquer, should you wish?
Did you get your car wheeled into daylight and then inspected by 3 random employees to confirm paint match?

There are quality body shops and then there are all the rest. I tend to find with the motor trade that when they tell you how good they are they are to be avoided. The best people say little but are happy for you to be part of the process, to be involved to see the nuts and bolts of everything they do, they are proud of their quality and don't hide from it.

None of this is of course a guarantee of perfection, **** ups still happen but it does inspire confidence that without saying anything other than it's your call Mr Customer, but here is my business feel free to nose around and speak to anyone at your leisure. I was actually speaking to the MD of one of the largest paint distribution companies last week, by coincidence and I mentioned the people who did my GT3 and his response was simple. "It gets no better."

I paid £300/£400 for a door paint, so not Rolls Royce money either, I can't see how they made money but when you can eat your dinner off the floor and a GT3 seems the cheapest car there, it does inspire you a bit. I'm sure they have got it wrong now and again with a car, I feel pretty sure that when they did they didn't do it twice.

The place we took the GTi to I still have nightmares about. NEVER again will I listen to the man who just drove into my wife's front wing big wig or not, when he says "leave it to me Sir, I'll make it perfect again as I caused the damage, I know a great bloke he does all my cars!"
 
There is simply nobody who offers that down here. Mostly because most people down here think a 5 year old Mondeo is posh and wont earn enough in 5 years to buy a 911.
 
[TW]Fox;17096938 said:
There is simply nobody who offers that down here. Mostly because most people down here think a 5 year old Mondeo is posh and wont earn enough in 5 years to buy a 911.
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My place is in Cannock, that's full of bin divers too, though there are some nicer places a few miles up the road :D
 
That place in Deptford of all places i found is superb, you can sit and watch them from start to finish if thats what floats your boat.
 
[TW]Fox;17096938 said:
There is simply nobody who offers that down here. Mostly because most people down here think a 5 year old Mondeo is posh and wont earn enough in 5 years to buy a 911.
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There are decent places on the Island - a couple actually, trouble is they are booked up solid most of the time.

Come back towards Hampshire, and I'm sure you'll find somewhere half decent?
 
There's quite a good one I've used just outside southampton, pretty cheap too. Came recommended from the PH forums.
 
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